A hobby is an activity pursued outside one’s regular profession or other obligations for fun, personal satisfaction or to acquire new skills. It may involve a wide variety of activities, such as collecting stamps, playing a musical instrument, writing, painting, sculpting, growing roses or even putting together model train sets. While it is not usually a major source of income, it does have the potential to earn an occasional profit that can be used for additional training or equipment.
Hobbies can be casual where they are infrequent and short-lived or serious where people are dedicated to a project for a period of time with a specific goal in mind. Some hobbies result in an end product like woodworking, software projects or artistic creations such as painting, drawing or papercraft. Others, such as raising tropical fish or breeding dogs, have the potential to become a small profitable business.
Hobbies are a great way to relieve stress by diverting one’s attention from worries and concerns and providing a brief escape from reality. They also encourage one to be patient as most have a learning curve that takes some time to master and become proficient. Some hobbies are shared with friends or family which can strengthen bonds and provide a social outlet. Others, such as traveling or creating vision boards (digitally or with paper and trinkets) are often done alone. Regardless, all hobbies offer benefits for our mental and physical health. They can even help us to learn valuable skills that we can apply to our work and other areas of life.